The "no big deal" defense has returned, this time in reference to NSA
and IRS improprieties. It has a noble history over the last years,
particularly in the 1990's. It should be a fond meander down memory lane
as we recall those charming times of gross abuse of personal
information and trust, abuse that for some reason we all see as rare and
without meaning.
During the Clinton administration a former bar bouncer, Craig M. Livingstone, was appointed to head the White House security office even though he was a political campaign operative without any law-enforcement experience. (He famously dressed people up as chickens to heckle George Bush in his reelection campaign.) While working in the White House in 1993, he obtained more than 900 confidential background files of major public and political figures, most of them prominent Republicans. This, of course, was illegal and potentially threatening; the misuse of such information is a constant concern in the republic. Mr. Freeh, the head of the FBI, issued a unusually strong statement saying the F.B.I. had been ''victimized,'' presumably by the White House.
Livingston was the center of a lot of difficulties in the Clinton White House, especially the rather peculiar drug problem that raised significant questions about leadership and competence, but the FBI incursion was an obvious threat to innocent, unwary citizens. The files were illegally obtained, open to anyone and huge gaps in recorded access to them lost. None the less, time passed and nothing happened.
Craig eventually moved on. No big deal.
During the Clinton administration a former bar bouncer, Craig M. Livingstone, was appointed to head the White House security office even though he was a political campaign operative without any law-enforcement experience. (He famously dressed people up as chickens to heckle George Bush in his reelection campaign.) While working in the White House in 1993, he obtained more than 900 confidential background files of major public and political figures, most of them prominent Republicans. This, of course, was illegal and potentially threatening; the misuse of such information is a constant concern in the republic. Mr. Freeh, the head of the FBI, issued a unusually strong statement saying the F.B.I. had been ''victimized,'' presumably by the White House.
Livingston was the center of a lot of difficulties in the Clinton White House, especially the rather peculiar drug problem that raised significant questions about leadership and competence, but the FBI incursion was an obvious threat to innocent, unwary citizens. The files were illegally obtained, open to anyone and huge gaps in recorded access to them lost. None the less, time passed and nothing happened.
Craig eventually moved on. No big deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment